Looking to upgrade to MySQL 5.6? Check out my webinar on Jan 29!

We are nearing the one-year anniversary since MySQL 5.6 went GA – which is typically a good time even for the most conservative users to start thinking about upgrading. At this point there is a fair amount of practical use and experience; many bugs have also been fixed (1991 to be exact according to Morgan Tocker).

We also know that MySQL 5.6 has been used in some very demanding environments on a very large scale, such as at Facebook. We also know from the Facebook team, after kindly sharing their upgrade experiences, that it takes a lot of work to upgrade to MySQL 5.6. That’s where Percona can help!

In my webinar this Wednesday, “Upgrading to MySQL 5.6: Best Practices,” I will share some of the issues and best practices we have discovered here at Percona in helping our customers upgrade to MySQL 5.6 – and also Percona Server 5.6, which is an enhanced, drop-in MySQL replacement. My webinar starts at 10 a.m. Pacific time. You can register here, and that URL will be available afterwards for the recording.

While we’re on the upgrade topic: MySQL 5.1 has reached EOL when it comes to MySQL support from Oracle. According to mysql.com, “Users are encouraged to upgrade to MySQL 5.6.,” and, “Per Oracle’s Lifetime Support policy, as of December 31, 2013, MySQL 5.1 is covered under Oracle Sustaining Support.” That means there will be no new releases, no new fixes (no error correction for new issues), no new updates.

Only existing updates, fixes and alerts are available – which means no more releases for MySQL 5.1 even if you run into crash-inducing bugs or the need for security fixes. The former can be especially worrying as MySQL 5.1 just got the some significant vulnerabilities fixed (more details) and chances are it will not take long for the next significant security issue to be discovered.

One solution to this problem is to upgrade to MySQL 5.6 or MySQL 5.5, which will be supported for awhile. That’s why Wednesday’s webinar is important to attend if you haven’t yet upgraded. You should also consider calling Percona to help in upgrading to MySQL 5.6 – especially if you do not have experience doing MySQL upgrades.

Another solution is to use Percona’s MySQL Support, which continues to cover MySQL 5.1 and Percona Server 5.1 and will provide fixes for crash-inducing bugs and security issues. I hope to see you on Wednesday!